Wednesday, December 5, 2012

End of year report 2012 Part 3: Top 25 albums of the year

The third
and final instalment – Top 25 Albums of the Year. Thanks for sticking with me
through these lists and actually reading them (PART ONE and PART TWO in case
you missed them). As always compiling this list was difficult (yes, woe is me)
and some albums unfortunately didn’t make it. Honourable mentions go out to
Converge, Baroness, Knelt Rote, Idylls and Kayo Dot. Sorry, guys. The top spot was
hotly contested too; photo finish one might say. Anyway, cheers again and keep
an eye out for the Irish releases post on CVLT Nation soon. Read on!

25: Lento –
Anxiety Despair Languish

Italians
Lento just about make this list with an album released in late October –
Anxiety Despair Languish. The instrumental sludge band have a string of solid
and impressive albums under their belt already, namely last year’s Icon record
so it’s rather heartening to hear them effortlessly top it with Anxiety Despair
Languish. Heavily layered with very busy compositions, each of these songs is
methodical but still manages to be relentless and even aggressive when needs
be.

24: Column
of Heaven – Mission From God

Mission From
God is arguably 2012’s best powerviolence/grind record and for good reason. Not
only is it a ruthlessly aggressive record, it’s one soaked in despair and
horror. A concept album of sorts based on Peter Sutcliffe, aka The Yorkshire
Ripper, and his reign of terror over northern England during the late 1970s and
early 1980s, the aggression of Column of Heaven’s music and the severity of the
themes couldn’t be more complementary, and the fact that Andrew Nolan grew up
in the area, experiencing the tension first hand makes it all the more
affecting; and the sample of an interview Sutcliffe gave in prison, which is
used to close the album, is one of the most unnerving things you’ll hear on an
album this year.

23:
Tempestuous Fall – The Stars Would Not Awake You

Tempestuous
Fall is Australian Dis Pater’s foray into the world of funeral doom (a man more
associated with black metal, primarily his Midnight Odyssey project and to a
lesser extent, The Crevices Below). The Stars Would Not Awake You is definitely
a good move in the doom direction as it’s head and shoulders above many other
doom metal records released this year and can stand proudly next to Ahab and
Evoken. A staggeringly long listen, Tempestuous Fall effortlessly glides
through the 63 minute running time of this debut with heart wrenching
melancholy in every towering riff, guttural vocal and discomforting clean
croon.

22: Blut Aus
Nord – 777 Cosmosophy

The
mysterious French black metal entity, Blut Aus Nord conclude their tense and
thrilling 777 trilogy with Cosmosophy, a totally hypnotic and even beautiful
listen. Cosmosophy isn’t so much a black metal record, in fact it rather defies
much of the genre boundaries we occupy our time debating. Still undeniably
intense though, the record is heavily layered and emotionally charged, dripping
with melancholy in the brooding clean vocals and meandering lead guitars that
mostly characterise the album. With this trilogy triumphantly at a close, it
begs the question just what is next for Blut Aus Nord?

21: Eternal
Helcaraxe – Against All Odds

Hands down,
the best black metal record to ever come out of Cavan. Eternal Helcaraxe are a
supremely underrated band in this country and the quality of this album speaks
to that. Meshing orthodox black metal and shades of paganism, unabashed melody
and clean vocals and a few Primordialisms for good measure, Against All Odds is
battle ravaged and ready to take on more. The running theme of war and battle
throughout the album truly comes alive in the battle cries of tracks like ‘We
Assist Death’ and ‘Invictus’ and not to mention the grandiose closer that is
the title track.

20:
Wildernessking – The Writing of Gods in the Sand

Let’s be
honest for a moment, South Africa isn’t exactly one of the first places we look
to when we’re in search of new, compelling black metal; shame on us really,
because we could very well have missed The Writing of Gods in the Sand. It’s
the first release from Cape Town’s Wildernessking, the band formerly known as
Heathens. Deciding to start fresh, the band changed their name and found a new
purpose under the guise of Wildernessking and thank them for it, as The Writing
of Gods in the Sand is a superbly impressive effort for any band, never mind
your first.

19: Samothrace
– Reverence To Stone

With just
two tracks, though expansive and lengthy ones mind you, Samothrace effortlessly
crafted one of the year’s finest stoner doom records. Of course the influence
of Sleep can be heard on this record, but Samothrace still make a conscious
effort to make something a little more them
and the sublime gentle melodies that wash over the dense walls of entrancing
riffs on the 14 minute ‘When We Emerge’ lays as proof that what we have here is
a band capable of the captivating. Meanwhile, ‘A Horse of Our Own’ descends
into some wretched depths, displaying a gripping dichotomy at the same time.

18: Wreck
and Reference – No Youth

No Youth
came out of nowhere. This duo makes some of the most enthralling noise you’ll
hear for some time, sans guitar but laden with myriad electronics, frenetic
drumming and disturbing vocals. Dipped in misanthropy, there is disdain and scorn
oozing from every pore of this record, whether it’s the haunting intro of ‘Spectrum’
or the uneasy volatility of tracks like ‘Inverted Soul’ and ‘Winter’. When No
Youth isn’t exploding in caustic rage, it’s seething in hostility once again,
anxiously and agonisingly getting closer to falling over the edge once more.

17: Assembly
of Light – Assembly of Light

Assembly of
Light’s self-titled album is one of the year’s pleasant surprises. The all-female
choir, based in Rhode Island, first started to become known somewhat thanks to
their collaboration with The Body on their All the Waters of the Earth Turn to
Blood album. Assembly of Light is simply power, the collective of voices
creates a staggering atmosphere and is complemented by the fragile addition of
other instrumentation and vocals courtesy of members of The Body and
Braveyoung, as well as a guest appearance by Daughters vocalist Alexis Marshall.
However, this album is centred on the captivating voices of these women, whose
vocal presence is just astounding.

16:
Martyrdöd – Paranoia

Along with
Wolfbrigade, Southern Lord continued their crust signing spree with fellow
Swedish punks Martyrdöd and their latest LP Paranoia, and it’s an album
effortlessly jammed full of adrenalized fury. The opening riff of ‘Nog Är Nog’
is completely unforgettable, and in fact this is an album loaded with hooky
riffs that don’t come at the expense of ferocity, as evidence by ‘Köttberg’,
and it all comes to a head with the closer, the utterly uncompromising ‘Varje
Val Har Sitt Pris’.

15: Wodensthrone
– Curse

2012 has
been chock full of black metal records of the highest quality, from all angles,
and unfortunately so many are omitted from this list, heartbreakingly so. Wodensthrone’s
second album Curse was nearly guaranteed a spot though. Released back in April,
it marked a massive leap in ability and ambition from Loss. At nearly 70
minutes, Curse is a sprawling epic in every sense of the word, conjuring images
of vast forests and devastatingly cold winters but all the while still ridden
with a sense of melody that ties everything together. An impressive record to
say the very least.

14: The
Great Old Ones – Al Azif

Exploring
the works of HP Lovecraft is certainly nothing new and plenty of times
throughout 2012 you’d find a press release shamelessly describing x band or x
album as “Lovecraftian”. The Great Old Ones, from Paris, are one such band but
thankfully the near-pastiche ends there, as their debut Al Azif is one of the
year’s very best black metal records. Taking in a little bit of that "post-"
element, TGOO have been easily compared to Altar of Plagues and Wolves in the
Throne Room, perhaps unfairly so, but there’s certainly a similarity in
intensity to be heard, particularly with the former. More importantly though,
The Great Old Ones still sound fresh and invigorated and where they go next
could be something very special.

13: Absolutist
– Ave

This one
sort of came out of nowhere too. The Aberdeen, by way of Northern Ireland, trio
released their reasonably solid demo in 2011 but the jump from that to this LP,
Ave, is quite the feat. Effortlessly blowing it out of the water, Ave is a
savagely belligerent crust record that’s terse and concise in its
ferocity.Each of the seven tracks is a
caustic tale of cathartic fury that keeps augmenting in intensity with each
song, eventually coming to a boiling point with album highlight ‘Tectonics’ and
the subsequent short closer of ‘Vile Communion’.

12: Alcest –Les
Voyages De L'Âme

Alcest’s
continued growth continues to astound and the conscious steps away from black
metal with every release has actually worked wonders for the band who are now
much more in tune with a shoegaze and post metal vibe. Les Voyages De L'Âme is
Alcest’s most affectingly beautiful and equally dramatic album yet and one
that’s completely enthralling. Work has already begun on a new record, one
where Neige says any kinds of harsh vocals will be scrapped entirely and the
band are working in Sigur Rós’ studio, perhaps suggesting a path even more
ghostly and ethereal than before.

11: Oak
Pantheon – From A Whisper

Following
the impressive EP effort, The Void from last year, with their debut full-length,
From A Whisper, is folk-tinged atmospheric metallers Oak Pantheon. Obvious
comparisons to Agalloch aside, From A Whisper is another beautifully crafted
record on this list. Flourishes of black metal are more than prevalent at times
but it’s the lush post rock sensibilities and the gentle acoustic folk moments
at play too that make this an album you can fearlessly lose yourself in.

10: Downfall
of Gaia – Suffocating in the Swarm of Cranes

Listen to
Suffocating in the Swarm of Cranes, then listen to Epos. It almost sounds like
a different band. Epos was below average, unfocused on a main aim and a little
too ambitious given the band’s ability at the time. Two years, and an amazing
split record with In The Hearts of Emperors, later and the German band is on
Metal Blade and have released one of the best postwhatchamaycallit records of
2012,but
still espousing much of their hardcore sensibilities. Raw and energetic but still poised with melody and cerebral atmosphere,
Suffocating in the Swarm of Cranes’ ambition is, this time, met perfectly by
the band’s honed ability.

09:
Cloudkicker – Fade

Ben Sharp
cannot be stopped. Under the guise of Cloudkicker, he’s been releasing at least
one record a year. 2011’s subdued Let Yourself Be Huge and 2010’s animated and
edgy Beacons were two of his finest, and newest effort Fade sees the
instrumentalist strike a wondrous balance between the two. Still creeping more
towards his heavier tendencies with riffs galore (‘Our Crazy Night’ is easily
one of the year’s very best riffs) and equally, intense and sombre moments like
the mid passages of ‘Seattle’, there really doesn’t appear to be any end in
sight for Sharp’s abilities.

08: Ne
Obliviscaris – Portal of I

It was far
too long coming. Australia’s Ne Obliviscaris released their hugely impressive
demo The Aurora Veil in 2007 and a series of stop/starts hindered the album,
whether it be line-up shifts and even guitarists being deported. Finally, in
2012, Portal of I has arrived and it’s everything the BM turned prog metallers
needed to make to justify the waiting, meshing lush melodies of latter Opeth
and Enslaved with several violin lines and the to and fro of clean and coarse
vocals. It’s grandiose and sprawling in every aspect, all aided by the polished
and roomy production. A definite triumph, top to bottom.

07: Scott
Kelly and The Road Home – The Forgiven Ghost In Me

If you ever
have a chance to see Neurosis’ Scott Kelly play a solo live show, you should
take it. His previous solo records are emotionally heavy to say the very least,
for just a coarse voice and an acoustic guitar, and that emotion blooms into something else entirely in a live setting. After a few years, Kelly has
put out a new solo record under a new name – Scott Kelly and The Road Home,
entitled The Forgiven Ghost In Me. Bringing in select few guest musicians,
Kelly has churned out a heart achingly beautiful acoustic record, once again
paying homage to the folk elders that informed his craft but also reflecting on
his own expansive musical career.

06: Between
the Buried and Me – The Parallax II: Future Sequence

You can’t
help but be impressed by how one band can manage to reinvent themselves with
every release and that’s exactly what Between the Buried and Me have done over
the last ten years, reaching another zenith with this, their most ambitious
effort to date. Beginning last year with the EP release The Parallax:
Hypersleep Dialogues, the band commenced the introduction to this sprawling
concept record that clocks in at a staggering 72 minutes, and it coalesces the
myriad components that make BTBAM such an unrivalled force in progressive
metal into one impressive feat. And while not exhibiting the same awe as, say,
Colors, The Parallax II: Future Sequence is still utterly monumental.

05: Pig
Destroyer – Book Burner

It’s hard to
think that anyone was expecting anything else than this. Book Burner may not be
of the same visceral quality of Terrifyer or Prowler in the Yard, but the long
awaited new Pig Destroyer album is every bit as fierceand vigorous that it needed to be; and
granted, with it comes some changes. New drummer Adam Jarvis (Misery Index) has
been subject to some scrutiny in filling the (rather large) shoes of one Brian
Harvey, but his clinical performance speaks for itself. Meanwhile, Scott Hull’s
riffs are untouchable and JR Hayes’ vocals sound more pissed off than ever and
the lyrics are just as unnervingly stirring too.

04: Enabler
– All Hail The Void

Talk about a
band that sounds invigorated. If there’s only one way to describe All Hail The
Void, it’s adrenaline burst. Enabler’s metallic hardcore, as clichéd as it
sounds, gets in your face but it doesn’t sacrifice any hooks either, as the
totally unforgettable ‘True Love’ will attest in spades or the searing lead
riff on ‘Speechless’. There isn’t a bad track to found on this record, it’s
start to finish unrelenting and while the album is still confrontational, the
cathartic release in each song is an altogether affirmative one. Hands down,
the best hardcore full-length of 2012.

03: Anathema
– Weather Systems

Anathema
couldn’t release a bad album if they tried. Following up 2010’s We’re Here
Because We’re Here was never going to be easy and the debate still stands on
whether or not Weather Systems tops it but it certainly matches it anyway. Once
again ridden with an overwhelming emotional depth and poise, Anathema have
completed their transfiguration from purveyors of gloom to a staggeringly
life-affirming, and simply beautiful, collective. The wondrous two part opener ‘Untouchable’
lays as evidence with Vincent Cavanagh and Lee Douglas proving why they’re the
most captivating vocal duo of recent years and when the final moments of album
closer ‘Internal Landscapes’ plays out and the hypnotic haze you were immersed
in for 55 minutes ends, you’ll find yourself lunging for that play button again
and again.

02: Dragged
Into Sunlight – Widowmaker

Also from Liverpool
but totally on the other end of the world to Anathema is Dragged Into Sunlight.
Furious, caustic and unhealthy are just some of the words that best describe
this band and their general ethos, as portrayed by 2009’s album, Hatred for
Mankind. Widowmaker marks an important stylistic shift for the band,
fraternising with more doom elements. A single piece of 41 minutes, Widowmaker
sees the band move througha myriad
moods and tones (all negative, mind you) and while still dripping with bile,
the album is actually totally invigorating as the band has, whether
intentionally or unintentionally, crafted a seismic and fiery record that is
utterly astonishing and unavoidably absorbing.

01: Neurosis
– Honor Found in Decay

Is anyone
surprised by this? Probably not, but the top spot was actually a very close
call. However, trying to put into words why Neurosis have the album of the year in the end is more or
less pointing out the obvious. After five years since Given to the
Rising, the band have mustered up a record that is one of their best, if not
the best, album since Times of Grace. Honor Found in Decay is every bit as
intense and emotionally wrought as anything they’ve done through the years,
from the pacey meanderings of ‘We All Rage In Gold’ to the soul and head
crushingly beautiful ‘My Heart for Deliverance’ straight through to ‘Raise The
Dawn’s sublime and hypnotic close – Neurosis simply just doing what they do
better than everyone else.